I was having dinner out with a friend awhile ago and after overdoing it with the starter and main course, none of the heavy desserts on the menu appealed to me that night. “You know what? I’m going to do something I’ve never done before. I’m going to go off menu!” I said, and asked the waitress for an affogato al caffe. They sold vanilla ice cream and they sold espresso, so it was just a matter of putting the two together in one bowl, like an ice cream sundae for grown-ups.
I was reminded of affogato al caffe (which means ‘drowned in coffee’ in Italian) when Café de Cuba sent me some of their Really Good Organic Coffee, decaf coffee and teas to try recently. This is one of those recipes where the quality of the ingredients really matters. Use the best vanilla ice cream you can find and use good, strong espresso (regular brewed coffee will not work here).
Affogato is good any time of year, but if you’ll be entertaining during the holidays, it’s an easy option for a dessert and pick-me-up after a big meal.
Affogato al Caffe
Serves 1
Put a few scoops of best-quality vanilla ice cream (though you could also use chocolate ice cream) in a bowl, sundae dish or cappuccino cup. Pour over a shot of freshly made espresso and serve immediately. You could also add a shot of amaretto or other liqueur to give it a little kick.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
One of my favourite ways to end a meal too. I’ve often asked for espresso & ice cream in restaurants and surprised the server by pouring coffee over the ice cream. May well serve this after Christmas while we wait an couple of hours before the Christmas Pudding!
(Psst – lovely with Bailey’s or chocolate ice cream too!)
I have never tried this before, but I know what I’m putting on my new year’s “must try” list!
My question though: when you ordered off menu, how did the server respond? Confused? Annoyed? Did you have to explain to them what you wanted? Did they charge you for the espresso/ice cream separately? Did they serve it to you correctly or did they bring the separate items and a bowl and you had to do it yourself?
(I’m always curious how establishments handle off menu ordering.)
An affogato as a digestif before the main dessert, I love it! I’ll definitely be trying it with some Baileys over the holidays.
I asked her to just give me some vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso poured over it, or she could bring them to me separately and I’d do it myself (she wound up doing it for me, but in the future, it would actually probably be better to order them separately but ask for them to come at the same time so you can pour over the espresso yourself and the ice cream won’t melt too much in transit or if it’s waiting around). I don’t remember what they charged me for it – if they charged their normal dessert rate or for the two things separately. I didn’t get any funny looks, but that might just be because I’m a bit of a regular at this particular place.